Vicony Tea Directory

Da Hong Pao Tea（大红袍）

Da Hong Pao(大红袍) is a Wuyi Oolong tea with a celebrity status. You can always find it among the list of 10 Most Famous Chinese Teas. It is growing on the Jiu Long Ke cliff of Wuyi Mount where still exists the inscription "Da Hong Pao" carved in stone by the Buddhist monk in Tianxin Temple in 1927. The living environment with short day,reflective light from cliff,huge temperature difference and spring watering provided Da Hong Pao tea with incomparable quality.

There are still six original Da Hong Pao tea trees survived today all of which are frutescent with fleshy leaves. During sprouting season,the reddish buds are highly conspicuous when hit by sunlight reflected by cliff.

As early as 1980,cuttings taken from the original tea trees which are called mother trees have been used to try to grow saplings via vegetative propagation but the attempt failed until 1989. Since then,the successful vegetative propagation of Da Hong Pao mother trees has brought in more than 40,000 mu Da Hong Pao tea gardens. Despite botanical homology,difference in soil and climate exists,resulting in big difference in quality used to grade and classify Da Hong Pao tea.

In 2005,when drought hit,the guardians for the six tea trees had to go to water them.

At present,Da Hong Pao trees,being ancient and rare, were recorded as Wuyi Mountain World Natural and Cultural Heritage. The traditional processing technology of Da Hong Pao tea was elected as the first batch of National Intangible Cultural Heritage,and now is a candidate,on behalf of China, of the World Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Legend of Da Hong Pao Tea

As the best tribute tea of both Ming and Qing dynasties,Da Hong Pao experienced a history of more than 350 years. Legend has it that the mother of a Ming Dynasty emperor was cured of an illness by Da Hong Pao tea so that emperor sent big red robes to clothe the then eight tea trees. Six of the original bushes,reportedly dating back to the Song Dynasty, still survive today and are highly treasured.

Less than one kilogram of tea is harvested from these plants each year,of which a portion is retained by the Chinese government. The rest is auctioned, with an initial asking price of 4000 RMB/100 g, but often reaching millions of dollars per kilogram.